I am looking at buying a fixer upper in the SF Bay Area. The house is an old Victorian that is in terrible shape. It has a brick foundation that is deteriorating in places, and solid in others. The sills are approximatley 3×8 RW and are in good conditon as are the studs. I saw a house of similar age that had a brick foundation covered in concrete or stucco. Is it possible to keep the brick foundation and repair in damaged areas. The purchase price of the house is very attractive in this expensive area. Any ideas or comments on the subject would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
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p'mike,
Sure, you can slather stucco on the bricks all you want, but it won't hold up the house. If the price is really low, you may want to use some of the savings to shore up the house by pouring some concrete footings and transfer the load little by little with screw posts (just one example of a way to overcome a shaky foundation).
If you think the bricks are doing the job structurally, but just want to patch here and there, and use the stucco as a sealant, it may work but you also might benefit from having someone check the foundation first.
If you don't address it in some way, whatever money you put in on top of it, in addition to whatever is there already, plus safety concerns, would make this a bad purchase. I passed on buying a fantastic Victorian in a spectacular location a few years ago almost entirely because the brick foundation was full of gaps, mortar crumbly, settling was obvious and there were quick remedy-type fixes. That house needed some major attention to its foundation.
Is your house a tear down? Maybe the location justifies the cost, and you can start fresh.
Mad Dog
Thanks for the reply. The house is defintley closer to being a tear down than a fixer upper, but the cost of demo and replacement would preclude me from ripping it down and replacing. I like your idea of adding footings and posts in selected areas. I will try to have a foundation specialist check it out before deciding. The rest of the house in bad shape, but I could handle the other repairs and upgrades. Thanks again.